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This Wednesday, Tim Ryan spoke with Detective Richard Wistocki, of Besure Consulting, to a crowd of concerned parents and teens. Their presentation, The Cop and Convict, aims to educate viewers on the dangers of addiction and how it can be prevented through technology monitoring.

Some of what they talked about was difficult to listen to. I could not imagine being a parent and going through my child’s phone to see what they had gotten in to. Just being in high school 5-8 years ago and experiencing what I did, I cannot imagine what the next generations of highschoolers will witness with their pocket computers.

But I could also accept the necessity of parents being more involved in their child’s technological life.

Shouldn’t my Life Be Private?

Det. Wistocki repeated throughout the presentation, “There is no such thing as privacy (regarding technology) for a child.” This was difficult for me to swallow. I like my privacy. I enjoy thinking that my conversations with friends are just between us. But, what if these conversations were harmful to me?

What if these conversations between friends were malicious without me knowing? What if these conversations were leading me down the path to addiction, and I did not even know it?

It was powerful to listen to some attendees in recovery talk about how they obtained drugs. One hundred percent of the methods they described involved some form of phone technology.

When I looked at the issue through this lens, it was easier for me to understand why parents should go through their children’s phones. However, it did not take away the cringe-factor of Det. Wistocki pulling up his child’s phone activity at that minute in front of complete strangers.

The Revelation

But that is when it hit me.

The activity on our phones should be innocent enough to be projected on a TV screen. Why should it be cringey to watch your phone activity in front of hundreds of people if you have nothing to hide?

I then realized what was making me uncomfortable.

An Extension of Myself

My phone has become an extension of myself. Just the thought of showing my phone activity feels like exposing what is going on inside my head. It was not just a violation of privacy, it felt like a violation of my being.

This thought frightened me, but I realized this was the purpose of this talk. No matter if we are 14, or 22, we should be using our phones in a way that would make our loved ones proud.

A Change of Heart

By the end of the presentation, my perception of children’s phone privacy had completely changed. And by children, I mean ages 18 and under. I saw first hand the dangers of having the key to world at such a young age, and how it can have horrific effects on our children.

When we look at the opiate epidemic as a whole, it can feel hopeless. However, The Cop and The Convict showed people on Wednesday night what they can do in their own homes to fight. What Tim Ryan has experienced in his lifetime due to drugs and alcohol is unfathomable, but as Det. Wistocki said, this does not have to happen, and we have the power to make it stop.

Your friends are surrounding you. The enemy is on the other side. There is a white ribbon fluttering in the wind as you use every muscle in your body to drag it across a line etched in dirt.

The rope cuts into your hands as an equal and opposing force uses all of its might to swing the ribbon in the other direction.

Feet dug into the dirt, it can feel like every effort you make is powerless over the strength of the opposing team.

Until everything changes.

Something gives, and you feel the weight of everyone’s effort force you back onto your teammates.

Laughing, wiping your hands on your legs, you realize … You won.

Sometimes, when we are knee deep in our struggles, it is difficult to see how our own actions can contribute to the pain we are feeling.

It can feel as if we are in this never-ending tug of war with our addiction/anxiety/depression etc. We are constantly fighting the inevitable waves of emotion and it is difficult not to feel helpless.

Until we realize that we can drop the rope.

We have the power to end this game if we allow ourselves the reprieve of just letting go.

Accepting that we are powerless over our addiction is the first step for a reason. It is impossible to win this fight if we continue to hold on to the rope, never allowing ourselves to take control of our lives.

Although in the game of tug-of-war, letting go may signify defeat, in the game of life, letting go is the ultimate power move. Instead of continuing to fight, you are finally allowing life to happen on life’s terms.

So, drop the rope.

Signify that you are not continuing to battle what you have no control over, and welcome the support of those around you. Maybe hand the rope over to someone else for a while?

When we allow ourselves to “Let go and let God (or Higher Power)” we open ourselves up to change. We allow our tired souls to rest, and can drop the burden of whatever we are carrying.

Whether we are worrying about our next steps in our career, sobriety or family; focusing on the here-and-now can feel virtually impossible.

When we are struggling with addiction, thinking too far into the future can be an exceedingly overwhelming task. The thought of living the rest of our lives substance free is a daunting task.

One of my favorite phrases dealing with this topic is, “Be here now.” It is actually engraved in a ring that I wear on my thumb.

Life comes at us fast, and we feel the need to prepare and stress about what is coming next. But, in this process, we miss so many of the beautiful things in life. We may miss the smile our significant other gives to us when we come home from a stressful work day. Or, we miss the beauty in how the sun hits the trees as it tucks itself behind the horizon before setting.

When we play the tape forward, it takes us out of the present moment and can cause even more anxiety than we already feel.

Whether you are taking your recovery one second, minute, hour, or day at a time, your job is to keep yourself sober for that period of time. And if you can keep yourself from drinking for 10 minutes, try another 10. See how it feels. And give yourself the necessary congratulations when you make it past these goals.

Sobriety can be scary, but it definitely does not suck.

I urge you to “Be Here Now.” Do not sell yourself short by thinking too far ahead.

If you watched the recent special, “Dope Man” on A&E Network, you might have heard Tim Ryan say, “We can’t arrest ourselves out of this problem.”

But what does that mean?

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, 46.2% of the current prison population is incarcerated on drug offenses. This percentage is a stark contrast to other populations, with the second highest offense, Weapons Explosives and Arson, following far behind with only 17%.

I want it to sink in that almost half of the US prison population has been convicted on a drug charge. Almost half.

Although addiction may cause individuals to commit acts that warrant consequences, it is saddening to know that close to 80,000 people will not be receiving the treatment they desperately need for their progressive and chronic disease – addiction.

I contribute this mainly to the stigma of addiction. Many people believe addicts need the structure and adversity of prison. While this may work for some people, it is a gross misstep to believe that putting an addict in prison will “heal” them.

As Tim Ryan said in “Dope Man,” If you lock a cancer patient up in a cell would you expect them to be released in a month cancer free?”

We need to start looking at addiction in the same way.

Addiction IS a progressive and chronic disease. Illinois alone saw a 7.6% increase in overdose deaths from 2014-2015, according to the CDC.

We need to urge lawmakers to start looking at addiction in this way, and to stop punishing people for their illness.

I believe if we started actually rehabilitating addicts instead of throwing them into a prison cell, we would save our towns from the crime that go hand-in-hand with addiction.

The war on drugs has largely failed, and it is up to future generations to repair the damage that this mass incarceration of drug addicts has caused.

After last night’s airing of A&E’s “Dope Man,” we have been overwhelmed with love and support from people across the nation.

Hundreds of phone calls, text messages, and Facebook page requests have been flooding in and we are doing everything we can to get back to them as soon as possible.

It is our hope, with the airing of this show, people will gain a better understanding of what addiction is. How it affects families. How it can exist anywhere, and take a hold of anyone.

The drug epidemic can seem incredibly overwhelming at times. Many people have told me personally that they could not work in this field because it is “too depressing.” Or they say, “The success rate is so low, how could you do this?” “This field will chew you up and spit you out.”

I doubt those people have witnessed the true beauty of recovery. I doubt they have seen the color return to someone’s face as they begin to grasp sobriety and feel alive for the first time in a long time. Although these transformations can be few and far between, when they happen it is nothing short of magic.

We hope that “Dope Man” provided a glimpse, not only into the dark world of drug addiction but the light and hope that comes with a flourishing recovery.

We are so thankful to those at A&E who believed in this show, and to those who have continued to support AMIRF throughout the years. We promise to continue to guide and direct addicts into treatment and to continue bringing individuals from Dope to Hope, one addict at a time.

With the near-constant onslaught of text messages, social media notifications and the power of the world wide web at their child’s fingertips, it can be difficult for a parent to monitor what is going on in the palm of their child’s hand.

But is it really important to know everything that is going on in your child’s life? They deserve their privacy, right?

As long as they are paying for the device being used, a parent has every right to go through it.

Endless possibilities, endless dangers

The trouble with technology is that it can be used for good and evil. It can be used to form and maintain connections, to entertain, or to document and share ideas. Yet, it can also open the door for faceless bullying, inappropriate content, drugs, and the dark web.

The device you are paying for might be the key to your child’s gateway drug or ruthless bullying.

Warning Signs

If you notice that your child has changed friend groups, isolated themselves from family and friends, or has a lack of motivation, it is probably too late.

As a parent and provider, you always have the ability to protect your children before these warning signs occur.

Resources

There are resources available to you if you are concerned about what is on your child’s technology.

BeSure Consulting, created by Detective Richard Wistocki, provides monitoring software and other resources to help keep your child safe.

And if you have any other questions, please contact AMIRF at 844-611-HOPE (4673) and we would be happy to provide you with more resources.

The fight against drug abuse and cyberbullying begins at home. Do not make the mistake of waiting until it is too late.